Perhaps the
coordinated Wall Street Democrats offensive to tell us that Social Security cuts are the only way to electoral victory for Democrats has something to do with trying to get the budget negotiations
back on their track, because as it stands now, in the plan Sen. Patty Murray and Rep. Paul Ryan are crafting, entitlements aren't going to get it.
The emerging plan also would attempt to find a middle ground between overall federal spending levels sought by Ryan and Murray in their respective budget plans. Under one proposal still under consideration, overall discretionary spending levels would be set in the $1 trillion range for 2014, sources say. That’s an uptick from the $967 billion spending level under the Budget Control Act but lower than the $1.058 trillion level initially sought by Senate Democrats. [...]
Nevertheless, there are still a number of hurdles facing Ryan and Murray. Ryan advanced a budget plan setting overall spending levels next year at $967 billion, whereas Murray’s proposal calls for $1.058 trillion in spending — and any major deviation from those numbers are certain to anger their respective bases. [...]
To strike a middle ground, both sides have discussed new fees to raise revenue — rather than tax increases. Those include new revenue from auctioning broadband spectrum, higher fees on airport security and changing federal retirement benefits. But doing so may not raise enough revenue to make up the difference between Murray and Ryan, sources say.
If they can't hit Social Security beneficiaries, at least they can hit federal retirees. Which probably isn't enough for the Third Way/Fix the Debt crowd as a consolation prize. Which means we'll be seeing more from them in the next few weeks.
What remains to be seen is whether Ryan can convince the rest of his caucus to agree to his plan. He's got some hardliners pushing to cut Social Security, add more means testing to Medicare, and make federal workers pay more into their retirement programs in order to save the military from any sequestration cuts. (At least it's not Obamacare repeal.)
